DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 5TH JAN 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 5TH JAN 2017
(Daily News India)
Shared By: WWW.DailyGk.IN

1. CHINA LAUNCHES FIRST FREIGHT TRAIN TO LONDON
i. China has launched its first freight train to London.
ii. The train will travel for about 18 days and more than 12,000 km before reaching its destination in Britain.
iii. It will pass through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France before arriving in London.

2. CENTRE APPROVES NEW PROJECTS FOR GANGA CLEANING OVER RS. 370 CRORE
i. The National Mission for Clean Ganga has approved many new projects at an estimated cost of over Rs 370 crore for its ongoing Ganga rejuvenation programme in Haridwar and Varanasi
ii. In Haridwar, 68 MLD sewage treatment plant in Jagjeetpur and 14 MLD STP in Sarai have been approved at an indicative cost of Rs 110.30 crore and Rs 25 crore respectively under Hybrid Annuity based PPP mode.
iii. The ‘Namami Gange’ programme was launched as a mission to achieve the target of cleaning river Ganga in an effective manner by involving all stakeholders.

3. TELANGANA AND ASSAM JOINS UDAY SCHEME
i. Assam and Telangana signed a pact with the Power Minister, Piyush Goyal to join the UDAY scheme in New Delhi in a bid to improve the performance of state run power distribution companies.
ii. Since the launch of the UDAY Scheme, the Power Ministry has signed Agreements with 18 states to join the Scheme. With the joining of Assam and Telangana, the total states covered under the scheme rose to 20.

4. FINLAND BECOME 1ST COUNTRY IN WORLD TO PAY BASIC INCOME TO RANDOMLY PICKED CITIZENS ON NATIONAL LEVEL
i. Finland become First country in world to pay basic income to Citizens to ensure a universal income offering greater security, especially as technological advances reduce the need for human labour.
ii. Its main aim to tackle unemployment, which stands at 8.1 percent in a nation of 5.5 million.
iii. Under this programme every month 2,000 selected unemployed will get 560 Euros.

5. MUNICH RE TO OPEN REINSURANCE BRANCH OFFICE IN MUMBAI
i. Germany based Munich Reinsurance Company has planned to open its branch office in Mumbai to provide the property-casualty, life, health reinsurance markets in India.
ii. Munich Re is one of the first foreign reinsurers to receive approval for a dedicated branch in India.

6. YES BANK TIES-UP WITH BAJAJ ELECTRICALS FOR VENDOR FINANCING USING BLOCK CHAIN
i. Yes Bank has tied-up with Bajaj Electricals for vendor financing using block chain solution.
ii. Block chain solutions is a distributed database that maintains a continuously-growing list of ordered records called blocks
iv. ICICI Bank was the India’s first bank to execute its first transaction on block chain.


7. PAYTM GETS FINAL APPROVAL FROM RBI TO START OPERATING AS PAYMENT BANK
i. Mobile commerce and payments company, Paytm has received the final approval from the Reserve Bank of India to launch Paytm Payment Bank.
ii. Paytm Payments Bank Ltd is supposed to start its operation in next 30-60days with its first branch in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
iii. Paytm Payments Bank is held 51% by Sharma and 49% by One97 Communications Pvt. Paytm Ltd.
iv. Paytm Payments Bank has set a target of 200 million accounts, across current and savings accounts, and mobile wallets, within 12 months of the launch. It aims to touch half a billion accounts by 2020.

8. AZURE POWER COMMISSIONS LARGEST (150MW) SOLAR POWER PROJECT
i. Solar power producer Azure Power commissioned 150 MW solar power project in Punjab.
ii. Azure Power had signed a solar power implementation agreement with Punjab Energy Development Agency under its Solar Policy Phase III.
iii. The 150 MW solar power plant represents a portfolio of three projects of 50 MW each.

9. GOOGLE DEDICATES DOODLE TO SAVITRIBAI PHULE’S 186TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY
i. Technology Giant Google dedicated its doodle to renowned social reformer Savitribai Phule’s 186th birth anniversary which was on 3rd January..
ii. Savitrabai Phule and her husband founded the first all women’s school at Bhide Wada, Pune and later she went on to become India’s first woman teacher and headmistress.
iii. The Government of Maharashtra has instituted an award in her name to honour women social reformers.

10. WORLD BRAILLE DAY: JANUARY 4
i. World Braille Day is observed on 4th January across the world to commemorate the birthday of Louis Braille who is credited with inventing the Braille language which helps blind people to read as well as write.
ii. Its main objective to raise awareness about issues facing the blind and the importance of continuing to produce works in Braille

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. WHICH COUNTRY HAS ANNOUNCED FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND INITIATIVE TO OFFER SOME BASIC PAY TO UNEMPLOYED CITIZENS EVERY MONTH SELECTED ON RANDOM BASIS?
a)  Finland
b)  Norway
c)  Sweden
d)  Russia
Q2. WITH WHICH BANK CONSUMER ELECTRICAL GOODS MANUFACTURER BAJAJ ELECTRICALS HAS TIED UP TO PROVIDE DIGITALIZED PAYMENT TO ITS VENDOR USING BLOCK CHAIN TECHNOLOGY?
a)  ICICI Bank
b)  HDFC Bank
c)  Andhra Bank
d)  Yes Bank
Q3.  NAME THE SOCIAL REFORMER AND RENOWNED POET TO WHOM GOOGLE DEDICATED ITS DOODLE TO PAY TRIBUTE ON HER 186TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY?
a)  Mary Harris
b)  Vijay Lakshmi Pandit
c)  Savitribai Phule
d)  Annie Besant
Q4. WORLD BRAILLE DAY IS OBSERVED ON?
a)  January 3
b)  January 4
c)  January 2
d)  January 5
Q5. WHICH MOBILE COMMERCE AND PAYMENTS FIRM HAS RECEIVED THE FINAL APPROVAL FROM RBI TO OPERATE AS PAYMENT BANK?
a)  Freecharge
b)  Oxigen
c)  Paytm
d)  MobiKwik

ANSWER: 
1 - A    2 - D    3 - C    4 - B    5 - C